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Session 1: The Stories that Make Up Our lives

Lesson 1 Handouts:
The purpose of this session is to introduce participants to the concept that our identity, our sense of self, is largely determined by various stories to which we relate, most importantly the story of our salvation.

Objectives

  • define stories as descriptions of real or fictional events that shape our lives with each other and with God.
  • identify themselves as being shaped in a particular way by their own family’s and personal stories.
  • describe the Bible as a collection of stories, and identify some examples of the people of God who are in those stories.
  • differentiate between historical stories and parables.
  • describe their connections with other people in their communities.

Useful Texts for Leader Rellection/Preparation

(Scriptural, Liturgical, Lives of Saints, etc.):

Have a Bible with the following passages marked: Deuteronomy 5: 6-21, I Samuel 3: 1-10, Psalm 23, Proverbs3: 19-20 and 11: 2, Isaiah 52: 13-15, Matthew 20: 1-16, Luke 10: 30-37, Romans 1: 7-15,

Materials:

Group A:

  • Display of sets of diverse kinds of nesting dolls (painted with various kinds of themes--many parishioners, especially collectors, will have these as do souvenir stores) and a selected nesting doll to develop the session theme.
  • Personal photos of students’ families and ancestors, and of themselves as babies.
  • Charts #1 and #2 (attached)
  • Cloth-bound books (see instructions attached), pencils, pens, erasers for each student
  • “Memory boxes” (directions and list of specific materials for making box attached)
  • Materials to create “The Whole Story” block bead necklaces (sources for kits attached) This will be an extra activity for camps and VCS sessions with long3r time periods.
  • Puzzles for icebreaker activity (blank puzzles available at craft stores). You will need one puzzle for each group you are planning on having and name tags for everyone. The puzzle itself should have large pieces.

Group B:

  • See general materials list at beginning of unit.
  • Materials for Journals (Depending on the size of the group, these journals can be prepared ahead of time by the teachers, or done by the children during the session. They can be made with colored paper covers, with several half sheets of binder paper put into the middle. They can then be bound by the machine, or stapled together. The children can decorate the cover.

A: Younger Children

Open with a prayer.

Icebreaker: On each of the blank puzzles write the name of one of the groups you plan on having. Break up the puzzles, put them in a large box, and hand out one or two pieces (depending on how many people you want in a group) to each participant. Have them assemble the puzzles and this will facilitate breaking them into groups.

Once they are in their group, each person is to draw a symbol representing themselves on the puzzle explaining to their group why they chose that symbol (hobby, talent, interest, etc.). You can also make your own puzzles using butcher/construction paper. See section B below.

Introduction:
Large-group leader extends a warm welcome to the group. Leader talks about the collections of nesting dolls, telling the “story" of each one. Make the point that each set of dolls tells a different kind of story.

Tell students that every life, including each of theirs, could have a nesting doll to describe it. Just like the dolls we have looked at, each person’s life fits together in a unique way planned by God, and each one is beautiful and precious because it was created by God’s love and direction. This is for every person in your town, our country, and the planet.

Say, “How does your life story fit together? and take apart the selected nesting doll. Talk about each one, going from smallest to largest:
  • This smallest piece is way inside. It is shaped by your parents, family, and friends. It has a lot to do with who you are, how you act, and how you think. This is the part of your story that we will talk about today.
  • Think of this second doll as representing that you are part of the family of Gods people. You know who God is, you know what it means to worship God as we do in church, and you try to live the way God wants us to. There is a long, long story of people who loved God and worshiped Him many years ago right up to today, and you are part of that long story. Well talk about it more tomorrow.”
  • “The third doll reminds us of something very specific. You are a follower of Jesus Christ. The word we use to describe that is CHRIST-IAN.” (Write the word on the board divided in this way.) “Not only are you baptized just as Jesus Christ was, but you take part in His life. You celebrate His birth at Christmas. Each year you worship during Great Lent and Easter (Pascha.) In this way you remember Jesus’s crucifixion and rising from the dead. As you do this, you try more and more to live a good and kind life, as Jesus Christ showed us how to do.
  • “The fourth doll reminds us that Jesus called people to be His helpers. Some of the first ones were the men who worked most closely with Him when He was on earth. They are the apostles. They went out and told the world the wonderful stories of what Jesus had done. And we are called to be apostles, too--to tell others the stories of Jesus’s love and show them by our actions that we believe what we say.”
  • (Put the dolls together, into the largest one.) “This last doll is the way most people see you--with the other dolls hidden away inside. You are whole and complete, with those stories inside you. A whole and complete person who worships God as He wants us to is an Orthodox Christian. You, as an Orthodox Christian, can share the stories of God’s goodness with the whole world! We will talk about some ways to do that some days from now.” (Students divide into their small groups.)

Photos
In small groups, have students share the baby pictures and family photos they have brought. Lay them on a table for all to see, perhaps guessing who is who in the group. Ask students (those who wish to) to tell about events surrounding their births--weather, time of day, notable things that happened. To get them started, have ready some details of your own “story” to share. Emphasize that each child has a special place in his/her family, and therefore the details are important and are remembered by other family members.

Now look together at students’ family photos. Ask to hear any special stories about the people and events in the photos--special family traditions, the kinds of work done and places lived in by the people, etc. Emphasize that these stories, too, were important to family members and so were told over and over at family gatherings. Make a point of the good things that come from these stories. (For example, an ancestor who had to work very hard after coming, probably poor and scared, to this country gave future family members the willingness to work hard and the courage to try something new. A grandparent who was consistently cheerful gave others an example of bearing difficulties without complaint.) Try to look for and express ideas like this from the stories the children tell.

The Bible
Introduce the Bible as a book of stories about God and His people. Leaf through it and read briefly some familiar passages, such as the story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17: 45-49, the birth of Jesus in Luke 2:1-7 and the Resurrection in Matthew 28: 1-8. Show the class the Book of Acts, which is about the travels and teaching of the apostles.

Point out that all these stories are about our ancestors, our families, and us. Why? Because we are God’s people. And in all these stories we learn about God’s love for every person--all of us. We are all God’s people. (See Chart #1.)

Talk about the types of different stories and kinds of writing in the Bible. Use Chart #2 to help students become familiar with these types of writing:

In the Old Testament-­

  • LAWS (look at Deuteronomy 5: 6-21, and show the class the Ten Commandments as an example of Laws which God gave to His people long ago.)
  • HISTORY (read I Samuel 3:1-10 as an example of history--Samuel was called by God to doHis work, and Samuel became a great leader among the Jewish people.)
  • POETRY (read Psalm 23--beautiful poetry which may be familiar with some students)
  • WISDOM (read Proverbs 3: 19-20 and 11: 2 as examples of the wise sayings here.)
  • PROPHETS (read Isaiah 52: 13-15, and emphasize that it was written many years before Jesus Christ was born on earth. Yet it tells us about Him, and about God’s will for Him and us.That is what a prophet does--tells everyone what God wants them to do. Isaiah is one of the most well-known prophets.)
In the New Testament:
  • GOSPELS/STORIES (read Matthew 20: 1-16 and Luke 10: 30-37 as examples of stories that tell how Jesus taught people. These have a special name: Parables. They are different from the stories we looked at before, about Jesus’ birth and resurrection, because they do not tell us what He did but they tell us what and low He taught.
  • LETTERS (read Romans 1: 7-15 as an example of the way Saint Paul taught the new Christians, and of his love for them.

Mark Chart #2 in 2 different colors, one for the Old Testament and one for the New.

Diaries
Pass out the cloth-bound books you have prepared. Explain that these books will be a personal “diary”for each student. Something new will be written in the books each day from the session. (Plan to helpwith spelling and getting ideas, but this book is really the child’s. Stress that they will want to make it a memory collection of the stories they are looking at during your sessions together.)

Say, “Today we will write about your story. Put your name on the first page. Turn to page 2. Think about today and write about the very beginning of your story. Where and when was that?” (Birth--time and place.)“Add more ideas about your family, your ancestors, and the people in some of the stories you know about. Paste in (or attach with paper clips) the pictures you brought. Write about these, too.” (If students need more pages, be ready to add some.)

Memory Boxes
Distribute a memory box (see attached instructions) to each child, and let them decorate the boxes, putting their names on. Tell them that they will keep things we make throughout the sessions in this, their own box, to take home at the end. (Tactfully help those who need guidance in making an attractive box. We want the students to be proud of what they have created.) Store the cloth-bound books in the boxes and keep the boxes in the “classroom” between sessions to avoid an mishaps.

Have materials available to make a block letter necklace that says “The Whole Story.” Those who finish more quickly can help others who are working more slowly. (This is an optional activity for groups with less time; it could be done outside of your sessions together.)


End the session with a prayer.

B: Pre-teens

Prepare ahead:

  • A large white sheet of butcher paper, cut into puzzle pieces (at least 10”xlO” size) one for each participant. This activity can be done with up to 20-25 participants as one group. Any more than that, and you may want to make two puzzles and divide them into two different groups. You can also make it a friendly competition to see who can complete the puzzle first. Please “read” the group carefully before you decide this.Hint: Draw a facsimile of the puzzle, and number the backs of the pieces to match numbers you give them on the master. Then you can help the participants if they run into a problem putting the puzzle together.
  • A large white sheet of butcher paper the same size as the puzzle board. This will be used later to put the cut pieces down, and to act as a border, and frame for the puzzle.

Begin the session with a prayer.

The”People Puzzle”:
Each participant gets a piece of the puzzle. Somewhere on the piece they will write their name in large, bright letters. Each participant will color or draw symbols on the puzzle piece to represent hobbies, interests, favorite subjects at school, favorite food, home state, how many people in their family, etc. Give directions for the children to make them bright and colorful.

When everyone is done, have them brainstorm in groups, ways to put the puzzle together. After a few minutes, start writing down suggestions on a sheet of butcher paper. Remember, in brainstorming, every answer is a good one!After a short discussion on which method to try, let them organize themselves, and give it a try. (they usually suggest things like, start with the corners, put all the straight edged pieces on the outside etc.) Have them place the puzzle pieces on the piece of butcher paper already cut to the right size. When the task of putting the puzzle together is complete, get back into one group to discuss how it went. The teacher will explain and encourage discussion for the following ideas:
  • We are all as different as each puzzle piece.
  • We have different lives, hobbies, interests, families, etc.
  • We look as different as each puzzle piece.
  • The puzzle pieces, though different, all fit together to form one perfect picture. We will also ‘fit together when we come to appreciate our differences, and the things that make us the same.
  • The importance of each piece of the puzzle. If we remove or change one piece the whole picture changes.
  • Our common Orthodox Christianity will be the strongest, most common sharing we have.
  • Once the discussion is over, have the participants brainstorm a name for their group. A banner or sign can be made to hang over the puzzle when it is glued together and hung on the wall for the week. If you use masking tape to temporarily hang each puzzle piece, you can easily remove them and hand them back to the children before the end of the week.
Customs and Traditions
This is a time to think about customs and traditions. Some suggested books are listed below, but be free to choose anything else that you feel would be appropriate.
  • Uncle Vova’s Tree- Patricia Polacco-Putnam and Grosset Pub.1 989 - A sweet story about Russian Orthodox Christmas and Epiphany
  • Lily and the Wooden Bowl- Alan Schroeder- Bantan Doubleday Bell Pub. 1994 - A book about Japanese customs, and the loyalty the young Lily feels toward her grandmother.
  • Frida Maria-Deborah Nourse Lattimore-Harcourt Brace Pub. 1994 - A story about a young girl living in the Southwest, and the customs surrounding Fiesta.
  • Ragtime Tumpie- Alan Schroeder-Little Brown and Company Pub. 1989 - A book that presents a slice of American life in an urban black community. It is the story of Josephine Baker as a young girl.
  • Smoky Mountain Rose- Alan Schroeder-Penguin Books Pub. 1997 - This is an wonderful take off of the Cinderella story, all done in the Appalachian dialect. It shows many customs and ways of the people living in the Smoky Mountains.
  • The Rough-Face Girl- Rate Martin-G.P. Putnam’s Sons Pub. 1992- Another take on the Cinderella story, but focuses on the customs and traditions of the Algonquin Indians.
Depending on the size of the group, and the time allowed, you can read these stories over the course of the week, or they can be read by small groups, and then the stories can be shared. Children love to explain stories, and may even act out parts if the time allows. Regardless of how the stories are read, or shared, the important part of the lesson, is the sharing of the different customs and traditions. This will be a good lead in for the sharing of their own traditions, stories and customs. These can be both about traditions at home for feast days, and the way that these feast days are celebrated in their own churches.

After the sharing and the discussions are over, and everyone has gotten the idea of traditions, they may each use a white paper square or piece of muslin to create a section for a group quilt. They may put any symbols, pictures, creative art work (they can also use old magazines to cut out pictures of foods, etc.) done in the form of a collage if they so choose. When all the squares are completed, they may help to attach them to the length of butcher paper, and put it in a complimentary design. This can be taken apart, or left with the camp, youth department, classroom etc. for a beautiful wall decoration.

Sharing or role playing with a partner before the quilt, may help some children think of ideas to include on their square. They may discuss the traditions such as dancing, foods, Holy Week and Pascha customs etc.

When everything is done and all is cleaned up, the participants may write in their journals about the most memorable parts of this lesson. Maybe it was the recalling of their own traditions, the discovery of someone else’s traditions, or understanding that even though the traditions may be different, the understandings are the same.

Teachers should collect the journals to respond before the last session.

End with a prayer.